Catherine Breed Completes Record-Breaking Swim Down the California Coast

She’s done it! Mill Valley’s Catherine Breed completed her 900-mile swim down the California coast from Brookings, OR, to the Mexican border this past Monday, October 19. While Mexico-bound sailors from the Pacific Northwest were cruising the California coast, Breed was swimming it, covering about 9 1/2 miles per day to complete her “passage” in 111 days.

As we published in July, Breed was wearing a wetsuit for the swim, but did not use a shark cage. She was, however, being watched by a support team on the San Diego-based mothership, the Beneteau 52 Catalyst. Prior to this challenge, Breed had swum the English Channel, the length of Lake Tahoe, the Farallones to the Golden Gate Bridge and much more.

As noted in prior stories, she averaged around nine miles per day by swimming about five hours in the early morning before afternoon breezes picked up. After completing each daily swim, she would reboard Catalyst to refuel and sleep in preparation for the next day’s swim. Despite the well-known challenge of finding any harbors along the California coast, the team did manage to find an anchorage almost every night close to the waypoint where they’d start the next morning’s swim.

The Baja Ha-Ha has only allowed sailboats and powerboats. Should we open a swimming division?

Breed highlighted both the richness of marine life and the environmental threats facing the ocean and coastline she loves as she made her way south, stroke by stroke. An Instagram post by San Diego Magazine quoted Breed as saying, ““Everyone’s been so fixated on sharks. And we are more fearful about that than we are about the damage and destruction that we are causing to our own home.”⁠ The damage and destruction are part of the inspiration behind Breed’s Swim California mission. As the founder of Sea Dreamers, a nonprofit that aims to empower women and girls to engage with the ocean through free, inclusive, community-led events focused on connection and conservation, Breed’s swim has brought community attention to our oceans and marine life.

Congratulations, Catherine!